Litaneutria Ground Mantis

Litaneutria is a genus of mantises referred to as ground mantises. As adults these ground mantises are typically under an inch in length and prefer to hunt on or near the ground. The genus is widespread in the west and the ones we have hatched here from the yard are in the Litaneutria skinneri complex.

Currently available as small to medium nymphs that are feeding on D. melanogaster fruit flies. Even at maturity, this species doesn’t need anything larger than a house fly and fruit flies might sustain them even at maturity if they eat enough of them.

You can see photos of this genus on Bugguide, here

We are not sure all the specimens we have are the same genus, sorry. There are differences in the way they look from specimen to specimen, in many cases.